At least 24 people were killed and 18 others injured after gunmen attacked a church in northern Burkina Faso, the region’s governor said on Monday.

“The provisional death toll shows 24 people murdered, including the pastor of a Protestant church. We also deplore 18 injured and abducted people,” local media quoted Colonel Salfo Kabore, governor of the Sahel region, as saying.

The motive for the massacre hasn’t yet been given, but Christians and churches in the north of Burkina Faso have become frequent targets for terror attacks by armed Islamists.

Unidentified armed men attacked the church in Yagha province in the Sahel Region during a religious ceremony on Sunday.

“The injured were evacuated to Sebba and Dori for appropriate care…,” Kabore added.

Burkina Faso is witnessing a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian emergency.